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Bundesliga matchday 26 reviews

Jonathan HardingMarch 12, 2016

The fixtures on matchday 26 promised a great deal of potential movement in the Bundesliga table, and the results followed suit. Bayern host Werder Bremen in the late game.

Fußball Bundesliga 26. Spieltag Borussia Mönchengladbach - Eintracht Frankfurt
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Revierfoto

Bundesliga Matchday 26 in 60 seconds

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Gladbach 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
(Stindl 36', Raffael 54', Dahoud 79')

The Bundesliga equivalent of the Neville brothers made their debut in the dugout on Saturday, but the Kovacs won't have been happy at what they saw. Frankfurt looked nervous and were overrun, with only Lukas Hradecky the reason Gladbach had failed to take the lead. The keeper spoiled his display when he failed to clear Raffael's free kick, leaving Lars Stindl to put Gladbach ahead and in the second half it got worse for Hradecky. Attempting his best Manuel Neuer impression, the keeper sliced his clearance and Raffael curled superbly into the empty net from just shy of 40 yards. With Frankfurt crumbling, Mahmoud Dahou scored a brilliant solo goal as Gladbach leap back into fourth after Schalke's defeat on Friday night.

Wolfsburg have had a poor Bundesliga yearImage: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Hofmann

Hoffenheim 1-0 Wolfsburg
(Kramaric 3')

In the week Julian Nagelsmann officially became a football coach, his side showed they play better at home, making it three wins out of three in Sinsheim under their new head coach. Even though Kevin Volland had a penalty saved by his former teammate Koen Casteels in the second half, a well-taken individual goal from Andrej Kramaric at the start of the game proved enough. Off the back of securing a quarterfinal spot in the Champions League, Wolfsburg looked sluggish. With Julian Draxler on the bench after picking up a knock midweek, Dieter Hecking's men returned to the inconsistent league form that has haunted them all year.

Stuttgart have been reborn under Jürgen KramnyImage: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Will

Ingolstadt 3-3 Stuttgart
(Hartmann 4', Leckie 56', Lezcano 61' - Kostic 9', Rupp 79', Didavi 84' pen.)

Ingolstadt showed all the reasons why they will stay in the Bundesliga and why they might yet get pulled into the relegation battle. After Moritz Hartmann lashed home to capitalize on Emiliano Insua's misjudgement of Christian Gentner's pass, Stuttgart drew level when Filip Kostic's strike slipped under Ramazan Özcan. In the second half, Ingolstadt took the initiative and went two goals clear when Matthew Leckie flicked home an instinctive header and Dario Lezcano curled in a fantastic free kick. The Paraguayan missed a chance to double up with the goal gaping and it proved costly when Lukas Rupp reacted quickest inside the box and then Daniel Didavi scored from the spot after Marvin Matip was judged to have fouled Kostic. Despite the draw, Ralp Hasenhüttl's side now have 33 points and are 9 points clear of the relegation zone with eight games to go.

Hannover are facing life in the second divisionImage: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Franklin

Hannover 0-2 Cologne
(Bittencourt 44', 60')

If ever there was a game that summed up Hannover's season, it was this one. Kenan Karaman and Adam Szalai missed chances in a first half which the home side dominated and Iver Fossum impressed in. Just before the break, a superb break from the visitors ended with Marcel Risse squaring for former Hannover midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt to tap in at the back post. On the hour mark, with the game in the balance, Bittencourt fired home a second from the edge of the area just to add insult to a Hannover campaign seemingly destined for relegation.

Sandro Wagner has been superb for DarmstadtImage: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Scheuber

Darmstadt 2-2 Augsburg
(Vrancic 13', Wagner 40' - Feulner 64', Finnbogason 90' pen.)

Augsburg's European adventure is long over, but the hangover appears to have stuck around and has them worrying about life in the Bundesliga. Having gone two goals down on a new pitch in Darmstadt, Augsburg launched a comeback. Off the bench, a masked Markus Feulner sent a low drive in off the post and then Caiuby headed in what he thought was the equalizer only for referee Bastian Dankert to rule out the goal for a foul. With seconds left, Dankert awarded the visitors a soft penalty as if to make two wrongs into a right and Alfred Finnbogason held his nerve to end the game in a draw. After Mario Vrancic's tap-in and Sandro Wagner's flying header (10th goal of the season) had the home side 2-0 up, Darmstadt were the side left fuming after a frantic finale.

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